Catching Feels in Cambridge: In which I finally get to live out my Hogwarts fantasy, pretended to be a perfect Asian tiger cub for a hot minute, and waltzed with the Rick Blaine to my Ilsa Lund* under the moonlight on the grounds of Trinity College. Romance isn’t dead - it’s just moved to Cambridge.
- 20 - 22 July 2019 -
*That is, if Ilsa were a bratty brunette of Malaysian-Chinese descent and if Rick - although still American and still jaded - is not nearly as bitter. The setting is Cambridgeshire in peacetime rather than Casablanca on the brink of war, but baby, between “Rick” and I, there always has been and there always will be a battle - of wits.
July 30, 2019
A Rome-ing Eye: My Photo Diary from the Eternal City, Rome
30 May - 4 June 2019
There are some places that I would revisit time and again. One such destination is the appropriately-nicknamed ‘Eternal City’ - Rome. You’d only have to ask, and for this recent trip Luxy asked me to buddy up with her. Curiously enough, the last time we were both in Rome was 5 years ago at around the same time. Having already been there, seen it, and ran the appropriately well-informed commentary; we were unburdened by the savant’s guilt of having to experience all the city’s cultural and historical offerings. The nature of this trip would be less intellectual and more indulgent - purely devoted to enjoying the Eternal City at its best, soaked in sunshine and sorbet. Well, when in Rome...
Photos of me taken by LUXLIFEBLOG, naturally.
July 12, 2019
WELCOME HOME
It’s no secret that I am a fan of W Hotels. In the last 4 years alone I’ve stayed in and reviewed the W Hotels in St Petersburg, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and Taipei; as well as hung out in the W Hotels in Barcelona and London. As I’ve said before, myself and W Hotels are an unexpected pairing given that my tastes gravitate toward the traditional and historical, but that just goes to show that their hotels are so exceptional and unique that I allow this ultra-modern, ultra-hip brand a place in my heart. I’ve been looking forward to the opening of the W Kuala Lumpur since 2015, at the launch of Tropicana Residences to where I was very kindly invited by Tan Sri Danny Tan whose Tropicana Corp owns the W KL Having waited so long for Malaysia to have its own W, I recently took up the chance to take a staycation at the shiny new W KL Will it live up to the hype? How does the W KL compare to its glitzy international cousins? Read on...
SOME PHOTOS KINDLY PROVIDED BY W KUALA LUMPUR, BECAUSE SOME AREAS OF THE HOTEL WERE TOO CROWDED TO PHOTOGRAPH.
April 11, 2019
Detox? How very wholesome...and utterly dreary, darling. I know it is oh-so-à la mode to be a beaming paragon of clean living and clean eating, but let’s be real: behind every smug “After my sunrise yoga session I had an acai and goji berry enema, now my third eye (and small intestine) has never been clearer! Namaste, b*tches!” post on social media is a hangry neurotic who’d close their chakras for a fat, juicy, cheeseburger. Deprivation is passé, moderation is key, and the occassional indulgence is essential. A monthly Retox is where it’s at, and no, you won’t even have to get up before noon. I can hear the decadence calling!
#THISISNOTASUNDAYBRUNCH
April 04, 2019
Home Away From Home: The Art of “Hostmanship” at The RuMa Hotel and Residences
Home away from home. A concept that has posed a conundrum to this native Malaysian eversince I made the fateful decision to immigrate to England over a decade ago. Having spent most of my adult life in London, my childhood stomping grounds of Kuala Lumpur are both familiar and foreign to me. I enjoy the unusual position of being able to offer insider advice on the capital city of Malaysia yet view K.L through the rose-tinted glasses of a tourist. Truly, the best of both worlds. However, if there is one donwside to having homes in both England and Malaysia (West and East Malaysia, I’ll have you know), it is that when people hit up #YipAdvisor with “Where is the best place to stay in Kuala Lumpur?” I can only reply with “My...house?” I have had no personal need to acquaint myself with the Kuala Lumpur hotel scene, and besides, what hotel can live up to the comforts of home?
March 26, 2019
atas:
(MALAY)
1. adverb, preposition: above
2. adverb, adjective, noun: upstairs
3. colloquial: upper-class, high-class
Eg: “She’s so atas, her phone contacts read like The Tatler 300 List*.”
*DID THAT GO OVER (I MEAN, ATAS) YOUR HEAD? I’M SORRY, I TRIED.
For too long, the phrase ‘atas’ has been thrown around by pressed Malaysians and Singaporeans to denote snobbery. Reverse snobbery, how quaint: I can relate. The struggle is real. Fortunately, The RuMa Hotel and Residences seeks to reclaim the word ‘atas’ by offering an elevated dining experience at their slick yet surprisingly accessible mezzanine-level (see what they did there?) restaurant Atas Modern Malaysian Eatery. Up, up, and beyond...
March 11, 2019
10 THINGS TO SEE, DO, & VISIT IN SINGAPORE: A GUIDE BY A REAL-LIFE CRAZY RICH ASIAN
You would’ve read from my previous story about my identity, heritage, and upbringing that I’ve spent much of my childhood in Singapore. The ‘Little Red Dot’ on the world map that has been brought to wider attention thanks to the blockbuster Crazy Rich Asians (cue: “I prefered the book, and mine’s the 1st Edition, darling”). Even to a semi-local like me, Singapore is an enigma wrapped in a mystery. To start with: its juxtaposition of futuristic skyscrapers and architectural styles ranging from classical Chinese to British colonial. Some consider Singapore to be sterile; I prefer to call it a safe, sanitised, and condensed version of some of Asia’s best quirks. A highlights reel, if you may. In that spirit, here is my insider’s guide to this unique country and how to get a feel for Singapore’s culture and history. And you don’t even need to be a CRA, because I’m thoughtful like that, sweetie darling!
February 01, 2019
Malaysian by nationality, Chinese by ethnicity and heritage, Brit by circumstance; by way of Kuala Lumpur, Singapore and London. 🇲🇾 + 🇸🇬 + 🇦🇺 + 🇬🇧 = ? In which I spill the (oolong) tea about my identity, my heritage, and the distinctions of different Chinese groups (from the Mainland to Overseas) against a pastel-pretty historical street that formed part of the backdrop of my childhood in Singapore.🇸🇬🇸🇬🇸🇬
January 17, 2019
With 36 trips (excluding some commutes between my homes in Malaysia and England*), 12 countries and over 30 cities visited (some of them 3 times this year), and my 43rd country under my belt; 2018 has been a rather good year for travel. With the clock hands inching ever closer to the new year, here is a look back at My Travels of 2018: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly.*because we all know that when I am in Kuala Lumpur and/or London, all I do is (in the paraphrased words of my dear friend Sheena) “Sloth at home in pyjamas and watch RuPaul’s Drag Race”.
December 29, 2018
Spanish Fly: The Journey Home from Morocco, by way of Spain
SAN SEBASTIAN - BILBAO - BARCELONA
This past summer I made my virgin voyage to Africa, with a tour of Morocco that took me through the Atlas Mountains, the Saharan desert, and coast to coast. It was an extensive road trip that covered at least a dozen cities and towns, 9 of which I blogged about. But sometimes, you can have too much of a good thing. As they say in France (and Morocco) - c’est l'embarras des richesses. After 10 days of being on the road, spending each night in a different town or city; and eating enough tagine, cous cous, and lamb to last a lifetime; I couldn’t quite head straight back to the grey skies and gravy of England, could I? I needed a transition destination - a holiday to recover from a holiday, if you will - in a country that was different enough to be interesting yet familiar enough to ease me back into reality. So I spent 5 much-needed days in Spain: decompressing and recalibrating in San Sebastian, Bilbao, and Barcelona. As one does...
November 30, 2018
The Santorini of North Africa? The seaside town of Essaouira is the antithesis to everything I had yet experienced in Morocco.
THE MOROCCO DIARIES, PART 10 of 10 - ESSAOUIRA
My tour of Morocco was approaching its zenith. After a week on the road that took me in a circle from the coast across the High Atlas Mountains, the final city to be discovered (before ending where I started, in Casablanca); I was ready for a laidback day and night in the coastal city of Essaouira. Although only a couple of hours’ drive from Marrakech, the atmopshere of Essaouira is a world apart: the seaside town is uncrowded and calm - here, the only crowds are of seagulls. Then there are the city’s colours. Everything is blue here; from the vibrant cobalt doors and window shutters to the turquoise taxis that linger around the gateway to the Medina. The Medina itself, an 18th century Unesco Word Heritage site, is a fine example of European military architecture in North Africa. With its strong European influences, a constant refreshing salty breeze, and next to no crowds; Essaouira was a serene scene that was unexpected but very welcome.
MUCH MOROCCO
November 09, 2018
Grease me up, buttercup!
THE MOROCCO DIARIES, PART 9 of 10: THE ARGAN OIL ROUTE FROM MARRAKECH TO ESSAOUIRA
Argan oil. Blessed liquid gold. The darling of the beauty industry - nourishing, lightweight, and versatile. Ladies in the know use it on their skin, their cuticles, in their hair. Myself, I’ve stopped washing my waist-length hair with conditioner, instead using argan oil on the mid-to-ends to keep my tresses happy. I knew that the best argan oil comes from and is native to Morocco, but I had only the vaguest idea of how it is harvested and produced. So it was rather a treat to visit a women’s cooperative and see the traditional methods used to produce this precious ingredient, buy my beloved argan oil (and other) products straight from the source, as well as witness for myself the legendary tree-climbing goats of Morocco.
November 05, 2018
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